Unexpected Guests
by Marinesnper
Summary: Sometime guests come at the most unexpected times, and arrive in the most unexpected ways.
1. Chapter 1

The weather the past few days had been bad at best. The combination of wind, rain, and near freezing temperatures made just plain miserable if you had to go outside. For me it just made work rather unpleasant for the most part. I am a carpenter and wood worker by trade, but will try most anything when it come to wood. It is good work though it doesn't pay a whole lot sometimes. All of it is done out of a small shop on my land, it can get pretty cold though. Only a small wood burning stove served to heat the shop.

It had been a long day for me but I was glad to have finished up the project I was on. It was for one of my pickier customers who always complained, obviously something I did was right since they kept ordering. Work was pretty much all that I did anymore, it had become both my hobby and my job. I didn't really have many friends and worked by myself most of the time. There was a couple guys who helped some with large projects but most I could handle on my own. After finishing though it was time to head back to the house for something hot to eat and then to sleep. It was only a hundred yards but it might as well have been much further. The runs consisted of avoiding large mud puddles, and trying to fall in the patches of red clay.

Fortunately this time I didn't slip and fall like I have done before. Having made it to the covered back deck, and removed my mud covered shoes, I turned to something I never thought I would see. Huddled up by the door looked like three little ponies. Really I only knew what they were because the pictures some people put up on their facebook pages. All three were shivering, covered in mud, and more than anything else look scared. Some people have called me distant, because I keep mostly to myself, but I am far from heartless. As I am walking in the door I scoop up the one closest to me, which it tries to fight but can't do much as it is barely able stand.

I am not even sure why but I look at the other two and tell them to stay. To my surprise they nod their heads like the actually understand me. For their size, about three and a half feet at the shoulder, this one is surprisingly light. Not weight much more then and infant at most, I deposit the pony in the large tub before going back for the others. They try to fight to but even thought they appear stronger it doesn't help them, they are just too cold to fight back. Once all three are in the tub, then starts the long process of warming them back up and cleaning them up. This took a lot longer than I expected, for not being that large they sure can get a lot of dirt on them. Through all of this they had been silent, It was almost a little unnerving because every time I said something it seemed like they understood. Then the eyes to, they were much larger than any I had ever seen. Each eye was nearly as big around as a big lime, then the colors. The color of each pony began clearly visible as I cleaned them off and they looked a little bit... well animated. The first one I brought in was a light yellow color, with a soft pink mane and tail, and teal eyes. Something else stuck out once I got them all inside, two of these ponies had wings. The second pegasi was a light blue, magenta eyes, but the most noticeable part was the rainbow colored tail and mane. The only "normal" one in the whole group was more like a regular pony in that there were no wings. It had an green eyes, a blond mane and tail, and an orange coat. All three had some sort of tattoo of sorts but I wasn't really concerned.

Once they were all clean I left them in the tub while I went to get blankets for them. As I walked out the door it sounded almost like someone started whispering. I just kept walking because I assumed it was just my imagination. It took much longer to get the blankets, and extra towel that I needed. I hurried back to the bathroom as I just imaged the possible mess waiting for me. I got two surprises though when I walked back in. Everything was just as I had left it but there was definitely talking going on. It was a very soft, quick female voice and I could understand it.

*Fluttershy's POV*

He walked in while Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and I were trying to figure out how we got here. We couldn't figure out but at least there was somepony that was nice enough to help. Though what exactly he was none of us knew, if Twilight was here she would have known. Her and our other friends are all back in Ponyville.

The he creature just stood there staring at us with his mouth hanging open. At this me and the others started to giggle a little because it was rather funny. The laughing seemed to bring him back to reality, as he know looked rather curious.

"Well that was quite unexpected. Well since it you can talk, do you three happen to have names?" He asked while walking over holding what looked like blankets

They looked really nice, it had been so cold and muddy outside. For us pegasi it is hard when we are wet and muddy. We can't fly because of the weight, and it makes us cold faster than other ponies. The bath was simply lovely and warmed me right back up. Right now I just wanted to wrap myself in one of those blankets and go to sleep.

"Mah name is Applejack"

"I am Rainbow Dash, Fastest pegasi you will ever meet"

"M...my nname is Fluttershy" I say while trying to hide behind my mane.

"What was that miss?" He asked while looking right at me.

*Rainbow's POV*

Ugh, here she goes again with the being shy. I know she can't help it a lot of time but why must it be all the time.

"She is Fluttershy" I answer the question that he had asked Fluttershy.

"What exactly are ya?" Applejack asks him with her head cocked sideways out of curiosity.

"I am a Human, my name is William Dillion by the way. My friends though call me, Will"

"Well it is a pleasure ta meet ya, sugarcube. You can call me AJ if ya want" Applejack said

"Let's continue this conversation in a few minutes after we get you three dried off"

I was glad to be getting out of this tub because it was a little cramped with me, AJ, and Flutters all in there. While there my friends and all, it is still a little weird all of us being in the tub at the same time. Will seemed nice enough but it doesn't mean that I trust him.

*Will's POV*

As I was helping the girls to get out of the tub, and dried off. I couldn't help but notice the Dash was just sort of glaring in my general direction. Once dry I wrapped them up in a blanket then set them on my bed. I had decided to let them sleep for the night while I just sleep on the floor. Then tomorrow we can figure out a more permanent solution because I doubt they have any other place to go.

The three of them watched me as I got some blankets and a pillow for me to use.

"Um, you can sleep on the bed if you want too" I heard a quiet voice.

"I am fine here, you three can have the bed"

"There is enough room for ya too, sugarcube" Applejack stayed while motioning to the fall of the bed that was currently empty.

"Are yall sure about that?"

All three of them just nod in response to my question. "Well alright, you three had better get to sleep. I have a lot of work to do, if yall are staying here then you will have to help too. It can all be talked over during breakfast though"

After settling into my half of the bed, I turn off the lights. Later in the night thunder grew loud enough to wake me up. The biggest surprise wasn't the thunder or lighting. Rather it came in the form of a yellow pegasus jumping on my chest and curling up in a ball. I was at loss of what to do at first, but figured it would be best to try an calm her down. It took a while of talking to her for her to stop shaking. Just when I was about to move her though she fell asleep.

"Oh, great now I am stuck here. Whatever I will deal with it tomorrow when I am awake enough to care" I mumbled while giving up any hope of her moving anytime soon. So I went back to sleep to try and get as sleep as I could.


	2. Chapter 2

"Uh what happened" I muttered as woke up. I tried to remembered what had happened last night but my brain was in a fog. Nothing that getting up, and coffee won't help though. With that in mind I decided to get up, that is until it registered for me that something was on me. All it took was a glance to realize a certain yellow pegasus was still flopped out on me unconscious. Great now I either have to wake her up in order to make coffee, or wait till she wakes up to go make coffee. I went for waking her up because I was really wanting to have coffee.

"Wake up" I said while gently poking her nose. The only response I got was a hoof coming up to cover her nose, and a few mumbled words.

"hey Fluttershy, it is time to get up" Fortunately I was starting to remember some details from the night before. Mainly their names and how she ended up sleeping on me in the first place. It took several minutes before she finally woke up enough to take in her surroundings. She looked all around the room before finally looking at me. When she saw the position that she was in it caused her to jump up. Which caused her to hit the floor with a resounding thud, which was followed by a whimper.

"Are you ok, Fluttershy?" I slid off the bed to make sure that she hadn't gotten hurt. She was holding onto one of her hoof's and was trying to hold back tears.

"I..I think s...so, it just hu...rts a little" came the almost whispered reply in between quiet sobs. She tried to stand up but couldn't as any pressure put on the left foreleg would cause it to buckle.

"Alright let me have a look at it" I scooped her up and set her down on the bed. Even though I knew very little about pony anatomy, but locating broken bones or sprains can't be much harder than with people. Especially since this pony can talk to me and tell where it is hurting. Slowly I started feeling the bone from the hoof up to the shoulder. It was what I had been afraid of though, when I felt the knee she winced.

"Could you try and move it?"

Nodding she and slowly stretched it out. It could still be moved fairly easily, but seemed to hurt a lot.

"It appears that it is sprained or strained in some way. Lets wrap it up then put some ice on it after I move you downstairs. ok?"

"um, that is ok. I wouldn't want to be a bother to you though." came a mumbled reply from the shy pegasus.

"Nope it isn't a problem at all" I stated while scooping her up to move her to a couch downstairs. There I wrapped it up and put ice on it.

"Looks like now is my chance to make coffee" I thought as I turned to walk toward the kitchen, something quite hard hit the back of my head. Upon turning I was met with a slightly livid rainbow dash.

"You mind explain why you hurt Fluttershy?" she growled while getting right in my face

"And why would you assume I was responsible" I asked in a seemingly calm even voice. If she had known better then she would have been able to tell it was covering a slowly rising anger.

"It had to be you, when we went to sleep she was fine and now she is hurt"

"Did you try asking her to find out what actually happened?"

"I..uh... not really but it is still your fault" Despite faltering, Rainbow Dash continued to glare at me.

"Really, you sure you want to go that route?" Despite the fact it was becoming harder to maintain the look of being calm. She was still completely ignorant of just how mad I was becoming.

"Yeah, it had to have been your fault. If it weren't for you..." I interrupted because I had all I could take.

".. If it weren't for me you would all be died right about now. If I had wanted to hurt you then I would have done last night. Not taken care of you and given you a place to. You had better start getting the facts before you try to accuse me." My voice was only slightly louder than before, but was ice cold and the anger was evident.

Despite the previous tough act, Rainbow Dash shrunk away in fear from the look I gave her. Calming down a little before continuing I told her "Now, I would suggest that you talk with Fluttershy and find out what actually happened"

She nodded before trotting away slowly with her ears dropping, and still looking a little scared. I turned to continue my trek to the kitchen to make coffee. Which I was finally able to do, while it was brewing I pulled out some apples for breakfast. While I was pouring my coffee I heard the sound of hooves behind me. I just hoped that Dash wasn't coming back to try and pick another fight. Upon turning though I saw Applejack standing there looking at me.

" Can I help you?" I asked her after waking several minutes.

"You could have been nicer"

"If you are talking about what I think, then that was nicely"

My response only seemed to puzzle her, but she chose to let it drop. "Applejack can you give me a hand and carry these apples back to the living room"

"Hand? What a hand" she asked with a head cocked to the side in curiosity.

"This is a hand" I waved to prove my point "I have hands and feet instead of hoofs"

She just shrugged her shoulders before grabbing the bag of apples with her mouth. I grabbed some glasses to put water in for the girls. Apples and water wasn't much of a breakfast. It would last though till I could make something bigger for lunch. When I came back to the living room, Dash and Applejack where busy talking with Fluttershy. They quieted down when I approached though, which I had learned is usually not a good sign. I set their glasses down on a table beside the couch, and gave Fluttershy the ice I had brought with me from the kitchen. The entire time I did this they just watched me, so I stared right back. The looks I saw on each ponies face was different. Rainbow Dash seemed regretful about something but tried to hide it behind a tough attitude. Fluttershy smiled a little but hid a little behind her mane. Applejack's look was odd as it seemed if she was trying to pick me apart to figure me. This isn't something I have ever really liked people doing, so I hide all emotion and gave her a completely blank expression.

"Good luck trying to figure me out, you aren't the first to try. No one else has ever gotten close" I told her while staring the entire time. This seemed to throw her off just a little because she now looked a little confused.

"If you have something you want to say then go ahead and say it. I know that I might be good looking but all the staring is just a little ridiculous" I just about laugh at how much Applejack and Rainbow Dash blushed. It didn't help either that I could have sworn I heard Fluttershy giggle, though I don't really know why.

"Well is there anything in particular you two wanted to talk about, or are you to busy checking me out?" This time I plainly heard Fluttershy snicker, while the other blushed a brighter shade of red.

" I...uh...I... we...wanted..." Rainbow Dash stuttered trying to talk coherently but failing.

"That was incredible insightful, thank you for your input" I stated with obvious sarcasm. This only served to fluster her more, though at the moment I didn't really care. I was still annoyed at her for when she had accused me. It wasn't helping her at all that Fluttershy was giggling each time, and with the last comment even Applejack chuckled.

"So Applejack, was there something you girls would like to talk about?"

"Well we was talkin about what would happen to all us till we find a way back home"

" You are welcome to stay here but there are a few conditions though if yall decide to stay here"

"It is mighty nice of you, What would them conditions be though?"

"Well you three will have to help around the house and shop. In the house you will have a bit more freedom, in the shop though you will have to do exactly what I tell you when I tell you. The shop can be dangerous and I don't want any of you getting hurt. "

"Alright, anything else"

"Yeah, there will be times that I have to leave which means you three will have to stay in the house. I would prefer that others not know about you. It could lead to a lot of problems, and even when I am here we will have to be careful." Then adding with a smirk while looking at Dash "When in future try not to blame anything on me before finding out what happened."

The Applejack and Fluttershy snickered, but Dash rubbed the back of her neck while smiling sheepishly at me. "Yeah about that, sorry about not finding out what happened first. I just hate to see my friends get hurt."

Breakfast went by quickly, though there was some grumbling from them about Applejack's apples being better. Which it made more sense when they told me about the orchard the Apple family owned. The girls told me a little more about themselves. They had already told me about Applejack living and working on a farm. Fluttershy talked about her job of taking care of different animals, and being their town veterinary. The thing that surprised me a lot was Rainbow Dash's job, which was leading the Ponyville weather team. A group of Pegasus that were responsible for creating storms, clearing clouds, and many other things that just happened naturally here.

"Well sorry Rainbow Dash but you won't be able to do any of that here."

"What!? Why not, don't you have somepony in charge of controlling the weather?"

"Actually we don't, the weather just does as it pleases. Applejack, if you are interested I have a small fenced area with a garden in it. Planting season is just about to start, so you are more welcome to plant and work with it if you would like."

"Ah would like that a lot, thank you very kindly"

"If you need any tools let me know, that way if any need to be bought there is time to purchase them. Sorry Fluttershy but I haven't really had any animals around. I had considered getting one but if you like I can get a dog."

"Oh, I would like that very much" came the quiet reply

"it would probably be best for you to just rest here till your leg hurts less. If you would like I can get you a pain reliever as well. Applejack, I will need your help in the shop a little later. There is an extra mattress in a spare room upstairs but I am going to make a simple stand so that it is off the floor. I will need your help with cutting the wood, but also the make sure that it isn't too tall for yall. Dash, you mind if I call you that?"

"No, not at all. That is what most of my friends call me anyways."

" Alright, Dash when we go to bring the wood and some tools to the house I will need the extra help. You are welcome to either stay here with Fluttershy or to come out to the shop"

"I am coming to the shop with you guys. Someone has to make it 20% cooler out there"

I just rolled my eyes before turning to Fluttershy, "I have a big favor to ask of you Fluttershy"

" Um... I will do it... if you want me to that is"

"Yes I do. I need you to write down the type stuff you three normally eat. The diet of humans is different from yours but with that I can figure out what would work for all of us. Unless you three want to just eat those apples that you all seemed to love so much" I added the last part while smirking. The reaction I got from them was better than I had expected. They just stared at me slacked jawed trying to figure out if I was being serious or not.

"Uh, girls that was a joke just so you know"

"Oh... yeah...we knew that" Dash replied getting nervous again. What was her problem anyways, she never struck me as the type that would get nervous. I guess that is something I will have to ask her about later on, right now though we needed to get to work.

"Well you two lets get to work, there is a good bit to do before lunch" After putting the dishes in the sink and throwing the apple cores away I led them toward the door.

"Fluttershy, we are headed out to the shop. You can stay on the couch or I could carry you out there with us."

" I...um... guess that I could go with you. If that isn't any trouble"

"Nope, it is none at all." I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to the shop while the others followed.

To Be Continued...


	3. Drop-in, and Negotiations

As I was heading out the door with Fluttershy in my arm, I made sure that I grabbed a couple of blankets for her. The shop can get cold at times but it would also make it more comfortable for her laying down. I was walking around collecting the few things for Fluttershy while we were out in the shop. I was walking by the back door when in the edge of my vision I saw something large and black. Moments later whatever it was hit the deck with a resounding thud. Grabbing a jacket as I went for the door, because It was raining again, I went to investigate. What I found out there surprised me greatly, for I found another pony. She was midnight black, and appeared to have knocked herself out when she crashed. Quickly I ran back to the door.

"Applejack, come here now"

"Yes" she said trotting over.

"I need you and Rainbow Dash to run up stairs and collect as many large towels as you can. Take them to my room and wait for me there"

"Alright, were on it" she replied running back into the house and yelling for Dash to help her.

I quickly ran to the side of the downed pony, but froze for a moment. Something was very wrong about all of this, the body size was bigger than the three ponies staying with me. It was that wings and horn that stuck out to me the most. Snapping back to reality, I knelt down to check for a heartbeat and breathing. I gently laid my head on the side of her neck. It didn't seem to be beating very loudly but there was a heartbeat. A thorough check for sprains or breaks would need to be made, this would have to wait for her to regain consciousness.

It proved more difficult and time consuming than I thought but eventually I was able to pick her up in my arms. The longer legs and wings made the task of transporting her to the upstairs bed room a pain. After a good ten minutes I was able to finally to get up to the bedroom. As I was going through the living room Fluttershy flew over and helped in moving the unconscious mare. The others were waiting with a large stack of towels beside them.

"Girls, work on drying her off. Be careful though because I don't know how bad the injuries, if there are any, might be. Dash, you and Shy work on dry the wings and check for breaks. I will be back in a minute with a few things. If anything happens come and get me, all right?" The three of them nodded in unison as they started drying the mare off.

I went down the hall to the spare bed room to grab a spare mattress that was in there. It needed to be moved back to the main bedroom for the injured pony to lie on. It was quickly deposited in the other room before I went to find sheets. There happened to be a spare pair that would fit on the mattress well. By the time the mattress was moved and the sheets put on it, the girls had dried off most of the pony. With a careful flip I was able to get the pony most of the way on to the mattress, and at the same time allow the remaining wet spots of her coat to be dried.

"Applejack, please toss all the wet towels in that basket." I said pointing to an empty laundry basket "Then haul it down to the kitchen."

"Will do, sugarcube" came the reply as the orange mare set to work.

"Dash, can you go to the closet in the hall and grab a blanket to put over her. She is still cold from exposure to the rain and cold." All I got was a salute in reply before she trotted out of the room. Fluttershy was just staring at me this whole time with the look of one wanting to help but no knowing how. Having gotten the mare dried off the need to check for injuries arose.

"Shy, do you know anything about locating and treating injuries. Specifically those in the legs and wings"

"I know some from helping my animal friends when they get hurt"

"Good, I need you to get to work on that. I will work on checking the body, neck, and head."

Fluttershy nodded in response to what I had told her, at the same time the others came trotting back into the room. It took a while to completely check the pony for injuries. From what we could tell there weren't besides for small scrapes and bruises from hitting the deck. It now came down to waiting for the pony to wake up. While waiting I was able to get a good look at the pony that I had brought in. She had a long midnight blue mane and tail which in the right lighting almost seemed to shimmer. There was also the deal of the horns and wings, something I figured the other might be able to help clear up.

"Applejack, were you come from do you have ponies with wings and horns?"

"Yeah, we have a few. Why do you ask?"

"Have you taken a good look at our guest?"

Applejack shook her head and then was joined by the other two in inspecting the pony. A gasp from all three showed they had finally seen what I saw.

"Wait, how is this even possible. Only the princesses are alicorns, and none of them look like this" came the sudden out burst from Dash.

"That isn't entirely true, Rainbow"

"Wait what do you mean by that?"

"There was a pony that looked close to this. Just imagine her with Luna's mane and tail."

While Applejack was saying this I saw Fluttershy's face go pale. Whatever they were alluding to couldn't be good at all. It suddenly all seemed to click with Rainbow Dash as her eyes went wide.

"Wait you don't think it is her?"

"There is no other alicorn I know of that look similar, the only way to be sure is to look at the eyes. By the way have you seen her eyes yet will?"

"Well no I can say that I have" I said shaking my head "but lets carefully have a look. I carefully used my hand to open one of her eyes, but I was not ready for what I saw. It wasn't like a normal eye at all, it was an emerald green dragon eye.

"What it can't be, she should be died I thought the elements dealt with her" Applejack exclaimed while glaring at the alicorn. "The best thing to do is throw her right back outside"

"No, I won't"

"What" All three of them yelled while staring straight at me. If the conversation wasn't so serious I would have been laughing because all of their mouth were hanging open in a very cartoonish way.

"You heard what I said. She is staying here till she is better"

"Why would you do that, she is a monster who doesn't deserve help." Dash would have been right up in my face while she said this if I hadn't blocked her.

"At the moment I don't care what she might or might not have done. She is unconscious and possibly hurt, and until she is better she stays. If you have an issue then you are welcome to leave if you like"

Dash growled in frustration before fly out of the room, even though she had said nothing I could tell Applejack agreed with her friend. I went back to checking on my patient, the only pony that had decided to stay in there with me was Fluttershy. Despite what I had said my mind was still racing with questions. Had I made the right choice, had this turned AJ and Dash against me, but one always came back to my mind. Who was this alicorn, and what had she done that was so wrong. I just sat there a long time thinking through this before a quiet voice interrupted my thoughts.

"You are wondering who she is, aren't you?"

Turning to stroke her mane while talking to her "Yes Shy, I am. Is there anything you can tell me."

"I can tell you what I know and saw, her name is nightmare moon. Though she looks different from the last time we saw her. She planned on bringing eternal night to Equestria because no one seemed to appreciated her night"

Chuckling a little to myself "well that does explain a few things, but why did the others react that way"

Over the next half an hour, Fluttershy told me about what had happened at the Summer Sun Celebration. On my request, she also told me about the elements of harmony. The one fact that stuck out to me was Nightmare Moon used to be part of some princess named Luna. It didn't make much sense at first till Shy explained how the elements worked. They worked by correcting any disharmony, but at the same time they do not kill. This made sense why she had been separated from Luna, but something else struck me.

"Shy, you said she used to be part of Luna?"

"Yes, she was separated from Luna several months ago by the elements."

"There is something I want you to think about. Is it possible that in addition to separating her from Luna, that the elements removed the disharmony from her? Is it possible that she did those things out of a misguided notion that it would cause others to appreciate and love the night. That while what she did wasn't good, at some level she isn't evil like everyone believed she was. That with any evil or corrupt possibly removed, she might very well be a fairly nice pony?"

Fluttershy sat there for a long time thinking over what I saw. I had to stop myself from laughing on several occasions from the faces she made. Eventually it seemed like she had come to some type of conclusion.

"I guess it is a possibility that it could be true. Can I stay here with you till she wake up... if that's ok with you?"

"I would appreciate the company Fluttershy. Watch her for a moment though there is something I need to grab" Quickly standing up I went down the hall to my hobby room. This room I made sure to keep the girls out of because it isn't a normal room. Half of it houses equipment for fly fishing, camping, and hiking. The rest was equipment that could cause them to get hurt though. Along one wall there was several racks standing near each other. There were five complete sets of Marine BDUs*, three set of the Army's BDUs, and two from the Navy. There were also a handful of different assault vests from standard infantry to medic, to grenadier. Beside the racks a veritable mountain of different size ammo boxes. There were only four caliber bullets though between them all .22 lr, .45acp, .308 winchester, and then 5.56 nato\.223. I had by quite a few guns on the past few years. Some came from family that had pasted away, one or two were given to me, and others I bought using part of the money I had inherited.

I had always liked guns, and some of the equipment I had came from when I played airsoft. Some of the guns I had purchased for plinking and pleasure shooting. The larger caliber ones I had bought to use hunting, more specifically hog and coyote hunting. They had been a problem for years in the area I lived in. It had become fairly common for some people in the area to call me about once a month to come help shoot hogs.

Once I was in the room I went and retrieved my one of my thigh holsters. It took a moment to get strapped on but soon it was on comfortably. From the closet turned armory, I retrieved my 1911 and a spare magazine. These soon found their home in the holster that I wore. Before heading back out I also grabbed one of my boot knives. After getting the gear I was looking for I headed back down the hall to the bedroom where I had left Fluttershy. When I walked back over to her she gave me a weird look while staring at the gun.

"What is that for" she asked while pointing at it.

"This is in case my assumptions earlier prove to be wrong. If she hasn't changed and something happens, then I will have to make sure she can't hurt you or the others"

Fluttershy looked shocked then a little angry. "You mean kill her, don't you?"

"If it is the only way to keep you three safe, then yes I will kill her. I don't want it to come to that but I have to be prepared if it does." I told her while laying down beside the mattress. Fluttershy nodded sadly but then to me surprise flew over to lay beside me.

"Thank you" I heard her whisper before curling up against my leg with my hand resting on her shoulder.

While laying there it gave me time to think back over all that had happened in the last 24 hours. I had taken in four ponies of which two were something straight out of mythology, another was a combination of two mythological creatures. I had gotten to know Applejack and Fluttershy a little bit, which they both seemed nice. Fluttershy , as her name suggests, was shy and timid though very kind. Applejack was honest and straight forward with a southern accent as well. The only one that I hadn't gotten to know really was Rainbow Dash, partly because it seemed like half the time she was starting fights with me. From what I saw she seemed the adventurous type but also was a bit boastful.

I am not sure when it happened, but drifted off to sleep at some point and started dreaming. I opened my eyes and found myself standing out in the woods. I was beside a stream I had been to several times, as I looked around getting my bearing something walked out of the bushes behind me.

"So you are the one who did it"

At the sound of the voice I spun around to see another alicorn standing behind me. She was a dark blue with a mane and tail that fluttered on an invisible breeze, from the description that Fluttershy had given I assumed this was Princess Luna. "I am not sure what you are talking about"

"You are the one who took in the three bearers of the elements of harmony"

"If you are talking about the three ponies I found freezing on my doorstep then yes. Who did they come to be here anyways?"

"A test"

"Ummmm, ok what type of test. Also why me?"

"That will be explained later, however I have an offer for you if you choose to accept"

"What kind of offer is it?"

"My sister and I have been watching you for a while now. Sending those three was simply to see what you would do when confronted by another species that talks. We know how you took them in and cared for them even though you didn't have to. We also know about the other pony you took in, and how despite her reputation you stood by your choice to take care of her."

"Ok, what does this all mean though?"

"What it means is that if you would like, my sister and I are prepared to relocate you and your belongs to our realm. With the skills that you have making money won't be an issue for you. If you decide to though we ask for one favor in return."

" I am listening" In one way this all sounded just way to weird, but also nice. I had very little tying me to this world, and there were too many painful memories here anyways. The chance to escape them and have a fresh start some were else sounded nice.

"All that we ask is for you to be friends with all the bearers of the elements of harmony and to keep them safe if the need ever arose."

"Still though, why are you asking me? There are other people that would be much better at this."

"We believe you to be the best choice for this. There are other reasons that I can explain to you once you are here"

I had been thinking over the offer this whole time, and it did sound nice. Whatever, I am taking it not ever day do deals like this come around. " I accept but have several conditions."

The princess smirked a little while raising an eyebrow. "What are they?"

"First I ask for at least a week before making the move. It will give me a chance to get to know the girls better, and I can see if Nightmare Moon has changed. Fluttershy told me her history, but I speculate that the elements might have changed her. This will give me a chance to wrap up the few orders I have, and buy some things as well."

"Very well, those are wise reasons especially with Nightmare Moon. We agree that the elements may have changed her but best to know first."

"The second is please have my house some were close to the girls. I remember them mentioning some place called Ponyville and it sounds nice"

"Of course, we wouldn't separate you from them"

"Then if there is some way for it to be done. Having the ability to fly and use magic would be nice. I know it might not be possible, but if I am to guard them then I will need to be able to keep up with them. Magic would also be a great help in my work shop."

"I am not sure if we can do that, but we will look."

"The last though I want your word that it will happen. If Nightmare Moon proves to be changed then I ask that she be allowed to stay with me, if she would like too."

"Before I can agree I need to know your reasons."

"They are rather simple, even if she has changed and is no longer evil. There are probably some that will still seek to harm her, or worse yet try to turn her back into what she once was."

I watched Luna visibly shudder at the reasons I said, but she nodded in agreement. "We understand your reasons. If she has changed and so wishes to then she will be allowed to stay with you. Protect her well, even though she has done wrong in the past she is still a princess."

"I still want to know one thing?"

"What is that?"

"You kinda answered it but really why did you pick me? I want to know all the reasons."

Luna looked a little annoyed but sighed before replying. "It is because of who you are. You are kind, and generous to those that are not able to help you in return. Another is your strong protective instincts. You stood up for Nightmare Moon because she might be hurt, in the same you prepared in case she tries to hurt the others."

"That makes sense but I believe there is more to it than that."

The princess just sighed again "You are right, there was once a time when pony and humans lived together. They were never a large group but they still lived along side pony kind. Twenty years before the Nightmare Moon incident many of them disappeared. No one knew were or why, all my sister and I knew is they somehow made their way to this world. The few remaining humans died out not long after, since that time humanity in Equestria has become nothing more than a myth. That was over a thousand years ago, my sister and I have decided to try reintroduce humans. We are only bring those that are willing to come, of which you are the first that we have approached with this offer"

I stroked my chin for a minute in thought, this was certainly a lot to take in. Certainly the part of me being the first one that they had decided to ask. "Thank you for the opportunity Princess Luna, if you could visit again in a week. I will let you know how my preparations are coming and the condition of Nightmare Moon. Also if you have something to suppress magic that might be a good safe guard. If she hasn't changed I can restrain her but it would be useless is she can use magic."

"I will have one sent that room you have with all the weapons. How did you know my name anyways" She asked giving me a confused look. Despite having talked for a while she never introduced herself. Knowing this might be my only chance I decided to take full advantage of it.

"Sorry but I can't tell you, I have to keep my sources safe"

The look I received was enough to make me burst out laughing. She looked befuddled and angry at me all at once. This resulted in her making several hilarious faces, but it only got funnier. The princess put on almost a begging look complete with big puppy eyes. At this I completely lost it, this might be a dream but it was the funniest one I have ever had. I finally calmed down but it took a long time. "I will tell you once I am in Equestria"

She pouted at this but had to agree because I wasn't going to say anything.

"Should I tell the others about this or will you be visiting them as well?"

"You can tell them if you would like, but my sister and I agreed I should talk with them as well since you have decided to come to their world."

"I am at least going to let them know when they will be going home, I am sure they are worried"

"I must go now as it is time for you to wake up, but I will talk to you a week from now"

With that the dream began to fade as I return to the real world. Groaning slightly I started to roll over till I realized that there was something on top of my, and on both sides. This just had me confused, because the only pony in the room, other than the alicorn, was Fluttershy. It felt though like I was sandwiched between several ponies. Upon looking down it proved that I was surrounded and covered with ponies. Which confused me because I had no idea when it happened. On my right side was Fluttershy, on my left side Applejack was up against me, and then curled up on my stomach was Rainbow Dash. This was definitely not how I expected to wake up, but it didn't appear I was going anywhere quickly. Resigning myself to this I laid my head back down, while absently stroking the mane of the pony sleeping on me. Despite being a dare devil is was actually rather soft, something I wasn't expecting given what wind and sun normally does to hair.

I am not sure how long I was laying there before I felt Dash start moving. After a number of yawns, she blinked and slowly turned to stare at me. Her eyes widened when she saw me but that was the only reaction. "Sleep well Dash?"

She nodded slowly, before looking at my with a questioning gaze. "Is it true, are you really going to?"

Arching an eyebrow at her extremely vague question, I replied "That depends on what exactly you are referring too?"

"Luna said that you agreed to go back to Equestria with us."

"In that case yes I am. Though it is going to be a week or more before that happens?

Nodding Dash, than looked down. With a rather sad expression she laid her head back down on my stomach.

"What is wrong?" I ask her while pushing aside part of her mane that had fallen into her face.

"I am still such a jerk?" she muttered to herself having seemingly not heard my question.

Turning her chin so I could look her in the eye "Now why would you say that?"

At first she was surprise but became sullen again, "Talking with Luna made me realize just how much of a jerk I was to you. Twice today I started arguing with you and not even trying to understand."

"It is fine Dash, I don't hold any of it against you."

"Still I was just such a jerk to you, Luna told me about your idea concerning Nightmare Moon. If you are right then I feel like an even bigger jerk for asking you to throw a hurt pony out in the rain."

"Dash, it is fine. I don't hold it against you and if I had been in your place I would have done the same. Friends?"

On hearing the last part her ears perked up and she smiled a little bit. That was before moments later hugging me, which was a complete surprise, as tightly as she could while muttering "yes".

Eventually she let go which gave me the chance to get on my feet without waking the others up. It was mid afternoon by the time I left my room, which meant I was asleep for several hours. I was followed by a hovering Dash the whole way to the kitchen.

"You hungry yet Dash?"

"You bet, I haven't had anything since breakfast. Make something quick cause I am starving"

Chuckling at my friend's eager attitude toward the proposition of food, I started collecting ingredients for the meal. After much whining on the part of dash the meal was finally finished and the other two had come to join us. It was a fairly simply meal of stir fried vegetable and rice. With the way that Applejack and Rainbow Dash ate though people would have thought I had been starving them. It was almost five in the afternoon by the time the meal and clean up where finished.

"Well it has gotten delayed most of the day. Applejack, I will need your help in the shop for a little while. Shy, please keep an eye on our patient. When she wakes up please have Dash come and get me from the shop"

I turned to walk for the door with AJ following along behind me. It hadn't rained for a while but it was exceedingly muddy. After mucking our way to the shop, we went inside to get to work. Watching AJ jaw drop when I turned the shop lights on proved rather amusing, but there was a lot to do. The first order of business was getting the stand made for the mattress that Nightmare Moon was currently on. There was an inflatable mattress that I decide to make an elevated stand for. Getting the wood for the stands, didn't take long at all. The most difficult part was the pre-drilling the screw holes, It added a lot of time but would make putting them together faster. Once those were complete I set them off to the side for us to carry to the house later. AJ was a great help in all of this, and it gave me a chance to get to talk with her more. She told me some about her life back home, how they three of them had become friends, and bits an pieces of other things.

After those two projects were finished, there were a few orders I needed to wrap up. There was only a few smaller ones for the week which was good. I would need as much time as I could to do what I had planned. I was able to make to some head way on an order by the time it started to get dark. I grabbed the tools I would need to put the stand together, and made sure to bring extra screws. The two of us then began the long process of shuttling the wood pieces to the house. After the first trip Dash came to help us in hauling stuff to the house. It prove a tedious and annoying task because of all the mud. It went from your feet sliding one minute to sticking in the muck and almost pitching you on your head.

It was dark by the time the time we had everything up to the room. It also meant the a certain orange pony need a bath to get clean. I was able to shed my boots and roll up my jeans, and Dash had been flying the entire time she was outside. She stopped flying when she was either on the deck or in the shop. Much to her chagrin I carried AJ upstairs to the bathroom, which garnered a glare from her the entire time I carried her. I really didn't care how much she glared, I had cleaned up a lot of mud of the floor recently and was tired of it.

It was a simple thing getting the mattress stands put together. On went in my room so that I was able to help Nightmare Moon if I needed too. It also would give me a better chance to keep an eye on her, and to separate her from most of the others. There was only one difficulty in all of this, the only two mattresses able to hold three ponies. One was sitting on my bed while the other was currently sitting under the unconscious alicorn. I explained it all to the girls, and left it for them to think about. Really they only had two options, all three of them could cram on the one mattress or one of them could sleep on the other half of mine. They talked about it for a while before deciding on the latter option. A talk was going on as to who would sleep were when Dash suddenly volunteered to sleep on the other half of my bed. I was curious about what she was up to but held my peace. The others seemed to find this odd as well though they likewise remained silent on that point.

The others began settling in to the beds, but I still had one more thing that I want to do. With moving to Equestria there would be a lot of things that I needed to stock up on. It proved to have been good that I was holding a large amount of money in savings. I started compiling a list of supplies I would need for the shop. Sandpaper, screws, nails, saw blades, router bits, drill bits, and many other items made it onto the list for the shop. Next was to compile a list of survival, first aid, and tactical gear I might need. I knew that this was a peaceful world but it was best to prepare. There were many items on the list the prominent being ammo, Night vision goggles and scopes, some additional melee weapons (tomahawks, war clubs, etc), and many odds and ends.

These are preparations that many would have scoffed at, but I had no idea what supplies I would be able to get there. It would give me more time to find the replacements that I would ultimately need. Hopefully the Princess might be able to help in this but I wouldn't know till I got a chance to ask her. It took me longer than I expected though the lists were eventually finished. I was able to get some of the bulk items for the shop ordered using discount I had because I ran my own shop. I headed up and got cleaned up form my working out in the shop. Walking it to my room I couldn't help but laugh at how Dash had rather unceremoniously flopped on the bed before falling asleep. I was just glad that she was on her half of the bed.

I had checked the alicorn on several different occasions throughout the day but little had seemed to change. The vitals hadn't changed which was comforting because her condition appeared stable. Once I was finished checking her condition, it was time to call it a night. This had proven to be a long and eventful day with an uncertain future. The one thing I was glad about though is I had found, quite literally, three new friends. I was finally able to rest with the hope that everything would turn out well with the alicorn.

* * *

**Foot note:**

BDU- Battle Dress Uniform. These are also known as fatigues, this is the standard uniform for a soldier in combat and training situations. Current US Military BDU are digital camo, the colors are small squares that break up a soldier outline.

BDU types- Above is listed three branches of the United States Military, each having their own color scheme in the digital camo. Marines have a forest combat BDU consisting on dark green, brown, and black. The Army has an urban combat BDU consisting of different shades of tan, with some shades of grey. The Navy has an ocean\amphibious BDU the colors are dark blue, light grey, dark grey , and black.


End file.
